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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To say people are totally over reacting about the fuel issue

439 replies

TikTokNutcases · 27/09/2021 22:54

People adamant they can't go to work, so get a train.

Ride a bicycle.

Use the bus.

Talk of closing schools for god sake, whatever next.

It's ridiculous that people rely so heavily on the use of their car that life appears to stop still when they can't drive it.

You don't see this type of hysteria among non drivers, ever.

I don't drive and never have. I've never flapped like this about not being able to go to the supermarket, work etc.

OP posts:
escapeyou · 28/09/2021 08:21

@Stellaris22

I agree with you OP and the nasty bullying you are getting is just people being defensive about their lifestyle choices.

Yes, NHS staff are going to need their car. Your average person being this reliant on private car use not so much.

I've lived very rurally as a child, I'd cycle 15 mins and get a train to school or to go meet friends. I don't buy that this isn't possible for adults.

A lot of people don't have cars because, like house ownership, it just isn't financially possible. Even driving lessons are unaffordable. It is possible to be a non driver and function perfectly fine. It's not being smug, it's being practical.

To say you can't do a combination of walking/public transport isn't true, it requires more planning, but it's not impossible.

It is illegal to cycle on the motorway to get to public transport. Perhaps you can advise how I get to public transport and then go back the way I came to get to work and school with 3 kids?
Mufflette · 28/09/2021 08:21

I've just had a look at how I'd get to work if I couldn't drive or get a lift to the station. After a 2.5 hour journey I would actually be able to get there an hour late, but then I'd have to wait til 3.50AM to start the 4.5 hour journey home over 5 buses Grin
I'm not even as much in the middle of nowhere as a lot of people, in a village with about 1000 people here.

OnwardsAndSideways1 · 28/09/2021 08:22

I still don't get how many bus drivers are supposed to get to work at 5am or whenever the first bus is running! To facilitate public transport, and work unsociable hours, many bus/train drivers rely on cars! It's not an either/or situation.

TurnUpTurnip · 28/09/2021 08:22

I agree op, I’m a single parent to 4 including a child with a disability and I don’t drive and never have yet I manage to get around! And I don’t just say in the local area either. I’ve never relied on lifts due to having 4 we can’t get lifts anyway as no room for us! I know people that drive to the corner shop that wouldn’t dream of walking, so yes I agree people are too heavily reliant on cars, And I live in London I don’t know anyone that lives rural let’s not act like people in London aren’t the same as they are.

Hopeisnotastrategy · 28/09/2021 08:23

To be fair, OP doesn't sound old enough to drive.

SmileyClare · 28/09/2021 08:24

The majority are quite enjoying the panic really? Confused the people I know are very frustrated, upset and worried about loss of earnings.
I can't imagine anyone enjoying having not having fuel.

Stellaris22 · 28/09/2021 08:24

A lot of people I know can't afford to own a car, or to pay for driving lessons. These people are far from privileged, but make things work because they have to. The idea that people use public transport because they're rich and live in expensive city houses is laughable.

Onairjunkie · 28/09/2021 08:24

@ivykaty44

Onairjunkie

im sorry to hear your father is having cancer treatment

perhaps if everyone hadn't over reacted then your father wouldn't be house bound as petrol would be plentiful

Where we are, no one has really ‘overreacted’. We all get isolated every winter with snow and ice so we’re use to mild peril! We normally use the tractors to help people when they’re stuck. It’s just our small rural petrol stations haven’t been prioritised for fuel deliveries and so we haven’t had any. So they’ve had to close. I’ve had to put red diesel in my RR. I’ll have to deal with the fall out when it’s due an MOT.
Brokeandtired3 · 28/09/2021 08:25

@Stellaris22 it's hardly people being defensive at all Hmm

Ironically enough its these "rural villages" that depend on drivers the most for produce and products so come off your high horse.

There are more things that would come to a stop than just the nhs without vehicles, alot of services that you so mindlessly use day to day unless you bloody pick your own vegetables from the ground

Fire fighters, ambulances, out of hours drs, Hermes, usp, DHL, amazon, supermarket delivery, postmen, cars that transport special needs children and disabled people, funnily enough even BUSES require fuel le shock, so unless your gonna jump on a horse or cycle everywhere even non drivers would suffer, coaches, cabs, Van's (lots of independent business depend on) tractors (that harvest the food YOU eat) I could go on...

But I'd hope you get the point by now.

So seemingly yes the world would actually stop and be a mess if petrol and driving wasnt a thing

SmileyClare · 28/09/2021 08:25

*having

WeAllHaveWings · 28/09/2021 08:26

You are incredibly narrow minded if you cannot work this one out all by yourself.

Whatiswrongwithmyknee · 28/09/2021 08:28

Absolutely OP. Everyone should move to the cities, have a small commute to work and make sure they have no mobility problems or child-care issues which mean they only have a small amount of time to get to work. Such a big fuss over nothing.

Mumwithbaggage · 28/09/2021 08:29

I teach 22 miles away. By public transport, it would take me over 3 hours to get there. The first bus to the town in the middle is at 7.30 (the bus stop is over a mile away with no footpaths). Lots of doctors/nurses near me have a similar commute. Good for you if you can get to work by public transport.

maddening · 28/09/2021 08:30

But if everyone had not engaged in total panic we would not have had the shortage, people living rural would not have the worry of impossible public transport etc.

But people love a.good panic and have now created a crisis for some people. It is the initial overacting that has caused all those actually impacted to be impacted.

Onairjunkie · 28/09/2021 08:30

@TurnUpTurnip

I agree op, I’m a single parent to 4 including a child with a disability and I don’t drive and never have yet I manage to get around! And I don’t just say in the local area either. I’ve never relied on lifts due to having 4 we can’t get lifts anyway as no room for us! I know people that drive to the corner shop that wouldn’t dream of walking, so yes I agree people are too heavily reliant on cars, And I live in London I don’t know anyone that lives rural let’s not act like people in London aren’t the same as they are.
You live in London with a world-leading public transport system. Do you really think your situation is compatible to mine? 😂 we don’t have a bus. I’m the service was stopped donkeys years ago.

Also it’s great you cope without a car with four kids and some with disabilities, but your life might have been easier at times If you’d been able to drive.

GitsandShigggles · 28/09/2021 08:31

I agree - it's all mass hysteria and an overreaction in response to a non-issue in the first place. It's not like the fuel protests of 2000. This is simply media hype because a couple of petrol stations had their pumps closed which isn't a rare thing in itself.

Seeing people in floods of tears at petrol stations in town and city centres because they think there is no fuel is laughable.

KitKat1985 · 28/09/2021 08:31

You don't live in a rural area do you OP?

I live in a rural area and work as a community nurse, visiting patients in their own homes. I need my car. It's completely impractical to use public transport when you need to visit several patients in a day and it would take you two hours on public transport to get from home to home.

ToykotoLosAngeles · 28/09/2021 08:32

Child care is another obvious issue here. Sure nursery wouldn't mind opening at 6am instead of 8am if I just told them my new commute was going to require "planning" an extra 2 hours each way. And then I guess the nursery workers could leave home at 4am on foot to get there for 6am. No big deal.

TurnUpTurnip · 28/09/2021 08:35

*You live in London with a world-leading public transport system. Do you really think your situation is compatible to mine? 😂 we don’t have a bus. I’m the service was stopped donkeys years ago.

Also it’s great you cope without a car with four kids and some with disabilities, but your life might have been easier at times If you’d been able to drive.*

You’ve missed the point of my post, the point is people in London are panicking too and asking how they will possibly get to work or the supermarket etc, Acting like they are now housebound, this isn’t just people in rural areas is it! The queues round here are crazy and everyone is panicking when there is really no need.

Bloodymess · 28/09/2021 08:37

Yabvu- if you are bored of a subject ignore the threads, its pretty obvious which ones they are.

What a ridiculous post. I can’t drive due to poor eye sight. Live in a city but not in London and it definitely limits my life. I need taxis as can’t always use buses due to other disabilities which also need fuel.

How do you think all the essential workers are going to get to work often at times public transport does not run (including train and bus drivers)?

Parents of children with SN some of whom can’t use public transport and can’t decide to just move close to school.

HelloMissus · 28/09/2021 08:38

You’re absolutely right OP. I’ll walk the 8 miles to a train station today with my Suitcase.

Offmyfence · 28/09/2021 08:41

@TurnUpTurnip

I agree op, I’m a single parent to 4 including a child with a disability and I don’t drive and never have yet I manage to get around! And I don’t just say in the local area either. I’ve never relied on lifts due to having 4 we can’t get lifts anyway as no room for us! I know people that drive to the corner shop that wouldn’t dream of walking, so yes I agree people are too heavily reliant on cars, And I live in London I don’t know anyone that lives rural let’s not act like people in London aren’t the same as they are.
London, with trains, tubes, buses, trams?

Not surprised you don't rely on a car!

Onairjunkie · 28/09/2021 08:42

@OakPine

I'm astounded that people have set up their lives so badly that they fall apart without a car. Yes of course the disabled, and scaffolders can't get the bus. The rest of us, unless we live in the arse end of the arse end of beyond have options. Unless of course you live in the middle of the countryside with 3 children all going in opposite directions to school and parents who commute to the city, in which case I despise your choices. Do you think the climate crisis doesn't apply to you! Why don't you set up your life better!
You’re quite right. I should have set my arable farm up right next to a decent bus and rail network so I don’t need a vehicle to get anywhere. How silly I am. You’re quite right to despise my choices. I presume you like to eat food though and we produce rather a lot of it, so perhaps we can call it quits.

Fuck sake. Some people on this thread.

mummydoris2006 · 28/09/2021 08:42

I live in rural Lincolnshire too, my work is 8 miles away from home with no public transport available. My daughter is in year 11 at school so GCSE year, to get her there and back each day is a 70 mile round trip. Although I'm not at the hysterical stage I am panicking so please tell me oh great non-driver the solution to my problem!

IngridTails · 28/09/2021 08:43

I don't know anybody who has panic bought fuel. Does anyone else?

Apart from the people who a filling Jerry cans, the people queuing are on fumes, have jobs that require their cars, are being fair and only putting £30 worth of fuel in.

Most people aren't dicks.